True Strength
by Jedi645
Summary: Abandoned


True Strength

Two lives, separated by thousands of years. One already having lived his life, another to live theirs. When young Jaden Astrannar finds the diary of Michael Starr, he begins to understand that true strength comes from the bonds we make, and with them, one can change the face of the galaxy forever…

B.B.Y (Before the Battle of Yavin)

* * *

**32 B.B.Y  
Dantooine**

If one were to look at Dantooine, they would see a sparsely populated planet that was calm and peaceful. Wide open plains in the majority of the areas, with a few cliffs, a couple forests, and a lake or two here and there. A perfect place for some to retire to. You could go out hunting with your blaster rifle every once in awhile and eat your own kill, relaxing by a fireplace and watching your favorite holovid while drinking some freshly brewed herbal tea. Truly a dream for someone who wanted to slow down.

That is until you saw the small town of Genera, which was full of kids running about, each doing their own thing, causing mass mayhem to the casual traveler. However, to any local, this would be normal. The kids always liked having fun and it brought life to the otherwise nearly dead planet. One girl, however, was looking around for a particular kid in the mayhem. Her onyx eyes swept the crowd quickly just as she spun on the balls of her feet and ran towards the forest, her black ponytail following close behind.

* * *

A young man was walking through the forest he lived by. In the distance a stream could be heard. He glanced around and kept on going. He kept up this ritual until he took a sudden turn off the path and into the thicker trees. He kept on pressing forward, occasionally stopping and changing direction a bit until he reached his destination. 

A small clearing, no more then ten feet, stretched from where the boy stood to the edge of a cliff. He walked a little bit farther down the cliff face until he suddenly sat down, putting his feet over the edge. In front of him spanned one of the most beautiful sites on the planet. Emerald eyes soaked in every detail. A lake was at the bottom of the cliff with a small waterfall coming down and feeding it, a few trees and other foliage surrounding it, and the sun just about to set reflected off of it with a pinkish tint. The sparse clouds had the same coloring and in the distance, metallic gleams from a larger city could be seen.

When the sun finally set, he laid back and looked up at the stars. _'Wish I could go out there.'_ Was the thought running through fourteen year old Jaden Astrannar's head. _'Being here always makes me at peace, where I can think and imagine being out there, helping the people in need, even if I can't make much of a difference.'_

* * *

Thena Astrannar ran quickly through the woods, looking for her brother. _'I'm going to KILL him! Its past dark and he still isn't home, AGAIN. And of course, Mom sends me out to get him while I was on the phone with my best friend…'_ She eventually went off the path where Jaden had turned.

* * *

Jaden kept on thinking until he heard something coming close. He turned around cautiously until he saw one of the worst things possible. A lone kinrath had found him. It was under his height by around a foot (He was 5'4) and it had four legs. However, what made it truly disturbing was that where its face would be, a large poisonous stinger as long as one of its legs reached out. The only other thing where its face would normally be would be some pits where its eyes would be, however, they can only see heat from them, much like pit vipers. 

His blood ran cold. He had left his weapons back at home and it was nearly dark, which would give the kinrath the advantage. He cautiously looked around for any escape route and by some miracle, saw that the path he came from before was clear. The kinrath looked, if you could call it that, at him, seemingly waiting for him to make the first move. He took one last glance at the kinrath and bolted with the kinrath reacting a split second later.

Jaden used all of his strength to keep a good distance between himself and the kinrath. He looked back for a second and saw that he was barely outrunning it. He looked forward again just in time to see his sister, which he pulled along with him, yelling "Run!" She ran next to him dodging the trees appropriately and then looked back at what they were running from. When she saw the kinrath, she pulled out a frag mine (A/N They are on the outer rim, with mercenaries and thugs abundant. They would be prepared for combat) from her side pack and activated it. She then proceeded to drop it and keep on running. The kinrath was in close pursuit until it activated the mine, which exploded and sent shrapnel out, ripping its body apart.

* * *

An hour later, a black haired girl and a redhead could be seen going through the town of Genera, both looking beat up. They stopped at the edge of town near a rather small house. Jaden collapsed on the couch as Thena yelled out "Mom, we're home!" A beautiful woman came out of the door to their right which led to the kitchen. She had a jet black ponytail and eyes like her daughter, which were currently narrowed in irritation. "There you are! Dinner has been ready for half an hour!" She then noticed the state both of them were in. "Both of you need to clean up. Don't forget to bandage up those scrapes." Raskta Astrannar added as she turned back into the kitchen. 

Thena and Jaden walked into their room and pulled out some medkits from a chest near the wall. They both remained quiet until Thena muttered "It's your fault, you know. You keep on going out all the time, whether there or to some other part of the forest." Jaden turned his head completely towards her and gave a lopsided grin. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. It just seems as if that place calls to me and when I get there, I'm totally at peace... until you come along" he added under his breath. She narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tounge then replied with "but there are still a couple packs of kinrath and laigreks roaming the deep forest that come out to the edge. You might be able to take out a small one if you're lucky, but the rest would kill you!"

Jaden sighed, knowing she was right, however, even though she said the same thing every time he went out that deep, he still went out to get that peace and centering he loved. He put a final patch on his arm and said "We better go change now, I'm mostly better." Thena just shook her head and got up as well, putting away the medical supplies and going to get a change of clothes.

* * *

The next day, Jaden got up with Thena for his morning exercises. After both of them showered and dressed in their training robes, they went out back to what looked like a training area. It spanned around fifteen square feet and contained a dueling arena and some mats for meditation. They both got on the mats and began meditating to calm and strengthen their minds. 

After a half hour, they went to the dueling mat. "Let's have a good duel, sister" Jaden said as he got in his form. As Thena slid into hers, she smiled and replied "I would have it no other way." Both stood still, only five feet separating them. At an unspoken command, both took a couple steps forward and started their duel.

Thena did a roundhouse kick, which was dodged by Jaden as he dropped to the floor and kicked her foot out from under her. He kept spinning until he tried an axe-kick on her chest, however, she rolled out of the way and bounced back to her feet. She backhanded Jaden as he got up, which he blocked with his forearm. However, she smirked and turned her hand to grab it. She then pulled him off balance as she slid forward and knocked his foot out from under him, proceeding to do an axe-kick to his chest, which knocked the wind out of him.

He rolled out of the way of another one and did a palm strike to her chest, which knocked her back a few feet. She smiled and said "Nice hit" as she caught her breath. Jaden did the same and replied "You too." Thena got back into her stance as Jaden slid into a new stance with the right hand closed and guarding his chest while his left was open and out in an attacking position.

Thena moved in once again to try to punch Jaden in the face, however, he gracefully slid behind her and hit a spot under and over her armpit with both his hands as her whole arm went numb and fell. He then took the other arm and put it behind her back as he softly put her on the ground. "Good duel Thena." He said as he released her and pulled her grinning form up. "Yeah, it was amazing. We haven't had one that good for a few days."

"Let's start weapons now." They were about to go and get them when Raskta called from the kitchen "Breakfast's ready!" Both of them looked at each other and grinned as they sprinted towards the house. They both sat down as soon as they got there with their Mom shaking her head in the background and smiling.

She set out some stew and eggs in front of the eager children and her place. After they said their respects, they started eating. "How did the duel go, kids?" Raskta asked. "It was great! We haven't one that heart-pounding since around a week ago! It wasn't as long as some of the others though." Thena anxiously replied. Raskta smiled and asked "Which forms did you use?" Jaden replied with "We used the basic combat form and I used a bit of the Echani form near the end."

Raskta thought for a moment and then said "You get the rest of the day off from training. Tomorrow I'm going to teach you some more of the katas for both the Echani and the Teras Kasi forms. We will also be completing the Makashi and Niman weapon forms." Jaden sighed at this "However, after you have the final moves down, I will start teaching both of you the Jar'Kai, which is the dual blade variant of the Niman form, or the Juyo, which can be used by the single blade, dual blades, or the staff. You will have to make a choice of which one each of you want to learn first as they both take a long time to learn. With the Juyo form, you will only learn how to wield it with the single and either the staff or the dual blades. However, with the Jar'Kai form, you will learn dual blades a lot more in-depth.

"Keep in mind that you will learn the others later and that you still have to learn the katas and finish learning the Makashi and Niman forms first so you don't have to choose now" glancing at Jaden and Thena's grins, she added "even though you already might have." They both jumped up and hugged her as hard as they could, saying "Thanks Mom!" as they did. They both then ran off outside to do what they wanted with their free time. _'Probably going off to finish those zip lines'_ She thought with humor as she picked up the plates and brought them to the sink as she started washing them.

* * *

Both Thena and Jaden were running down the streets of Genera towards the large forest, each anxious to finish their long-running project. The outer forest spanned a couple of square miles. The land in it was beautiful, containing all forms of foliage and woodland animals. The trees are extremely tall, however, they are relatively spread out. Every once in awhile, a stray kinrath or the like would wander out of the inner forest, but otherwise, it was peaceful. 

However, the inner forest was a sharp contrast to the outer portion. Even being near it made anyone shiver from the restlessness of it. Its tall canopy was thick enough to cut out the majority of the rays of the sun, save a couple of areas. The creatures consisted of carnivorous creatures, such as the laigrek and kinrath. There were also rumors of a 'king of beasts' which was larger then any kinrath and could rip apart a pack of them as well. _'Glad it's just a rumor…'_ Thena nervously thought.

They had made the zip lines so they could easily traverse the large area of the outer forest quickly and safely. A zip line is a long cable suspended between two platforms at an incline. It uses gravity to pull the user along at rather high speeds. A pulley system with two handlebars is usually used, however, a piece of thick cloth could also work for short distances. They had two of these platforms at various trees in the outer forest, one on top of the other, offering a way to travel both to and back from the destination.

After a bit more running, they finally made it to the primary platform. It had multiple cables running in separate directions on both platforms. It also had a roof made of the large amounts of wood they cut down to clear the paths between each set of platforms.

They both looked at each other and smiled. "Let's get to work."

* * *

Jaden lay in his bed, day-dreaming about what he would do in the forest when he could. He was working out a couple more details on the platforms when he had a very strong calling to the forest, stronger by far compared to the others he had, and saw a near white beam of light shoot straight up from the center of it. He immediately got out of bed and put on his clothes. He noticed his sister doing the same and smiled. _'When it gets down to it, she takes more risks then me'_. She glanced at him and humorously said "Can't let you have all the fun, Jaden." They both finished a few seconds later and got their travel gear and weapons together. They both felt another "pulse" go off a minute later and went out the door. A couple of minutes after they left, their Mom opened the door to their room frantically. When she noticed their empty beds, she whispered "Oh no…" She ran to her room and got her weapons. She then opened a hidden compartment on the wall and pulled out a lightsaber as she sped off after her children.

* * *

Jaden and Thena both ran to the zip line platform at the edge of the forest and started climbing up it. When they got to the top, they each got a handle-bar system. Jaden went first with Thena going a minute after him. 

They both reached the edge of the deep forest as another pulse went off significantly closer. They got off the platform and ran to where the pulse was coming from. As they were running, Thena looked around for kinrath and laigreks, however, none were in sight, which surprised her greatly, due to the fact that when they were finishing the platform at the edge of the forest, they saw at least a couple every day.

Another pulse went off as they reached a clearing. It was around yards round and in the center was a small pedestal. They ran to within two feet of it and saw what appeared to be an intricate cube, only around four square inches. They were about to pick it up when they heard a call emanate from the trees in front of them. They slowly looked up to see a pack of kinrath at the edge of the clearing looking straight at them.

"We run on three" Jaden whispered. "Don't stop for anything." Thena was shocked, however, she nodded her head. "One" They got ready to turn. "Two" They tensed their legs. "Three!" Thena bolted back towards the zip line as Jaden picked up the cube and did the same. However, the kinrath stood still as the sound of a lightsaber turned off. A second later, all of them stood decapitated as their bodies fell, the owner of the lightsaber softly smiling at where the figures ran.

* * *

Jaden and Thena eventually made it to the zip line platform and went one at a time across. They kept on running until they reached their room and caught their breath. Thena started giggling until it grew to full blown laughter. Jaden couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing as well. "I don't want to do that again!" Thena said after their laughing died down. "Heh, no kidding, we were nearly kinrath food." Jaden humorously replied. "It's too bad that we didn't get the cube though, after we went out all that way." She sighed. Jaden just smirked as he pulled it out from his side pack. "Who says we didn't?" Thena looked at the cube, then back to Jaden, and hit him in the head. "YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!" Jaden pulled himself off the floor and rubbed his head as he said "Let's find out what it is." He put it on the floor as they both kneeled on either side of it and looked for anything. 

It was a small cube, only around one-third of a foot, however, it had intricate carvings all over it, such as a mask on one part and an open book on another. Jaden looked all over it until he reached out his hand and touched the book to turn it over. Suddenly, a mini hologram popped up of a man in some robes. "This is the holocron of Michael Starr. I had hoped someday that someone would be able to find this record and learn from it. If the Jedi have been wiped out yet, I ask you to carry on the teachings found in here as only a force adept could unlock this record. This holocron contains training for both the Jedi and the Sith techniques in the force, the saber, and the mind. There are also the teachings of the Echani in here as well as the record of my travels shortly after the Mandalorian War. Simply touch the corresponding icon on the holocron and you can access any information. The only training locked is the actual force abilities, which can only be unlocked when this holocron senses that your mind has been honed enough." With that, the hologram turned off, leaving two entranced children in its wake.

Jaden was the first to break the silence. "A holocron with the teachings of the Jedi, Sith, and Echani from the time of the Mandalorian War, nearly four thousand years ago, and we have it sitting in front of us, saying that we are force adepts and that the Jedi are going to be wiped out…" "Yeah…" was Thena's only reply. "Let's go tell Mom…" Jaden slowly said. "Yeah…"

They both got up and walked over to their Moms room and was about to open the door when it opened on its own, revealing Raskta in her traveling robes and beckoning them in. Thena noticed a lightsaber on her belt (A/N They've been home-schooled since they've been born and know a ton about galactic history and general know-how) and made to ask her about it. They followed her in as she led them to a mat, which they kneeled on. They then recounted their tale and showed her the cube. She simply looked at it with a thoughtful expression on her face until she finally said.

"So you found the holocron of Michael Starr… This is very interesting. Tell me, what you know of the Mandalorian War?" Jaden thought back to what he had learned from the various history books he had read and recited "The Mandalorian War was one of the most fearsome and gruesome wars ever to happen in the Republic. The Mandalorians had attacked various parts of the Republic with the intent of conquering it. The Republic was losing steadily with the Jedi meditating on what to do, due to some unknown fact. Then a band of Jedi led by Revan, an accomplished Jedi, went out to support the Republic. Near the end of the war, Revan ended the Mandalorian War by killing their leader in single combat and ordering the destruction of Malachor V, where the majority of the Mandalorians were fighting with Republic troops and Jedi. After this, Revan went out to supposedly destroy the rest of the Mandalorians, however, he returned later on and started the Jedi Civil War as the newly proclaimed Dark Lord of the Sith."

Raskta nodded her head. "Yes, that's a general outline of what happened. The General in charge of the Battle of Malachor was Michael Starr, previously a Jedi Knight. He was the only Jedi that went back to the Jedi Council to be judged, the others either turning to the dark side or being too afraid to face judgment. He was exiled from the Jedi and stripped of his lightsaber. The rest is shrouded in mystery, which this holocron should clear up."

Thena spoke up with "What about you, Mom? How do you know all of this and have a lightsaber?" Raskta cursed for forgetting to put the lightsaber away. "I know this because I was a follower of a Sith cult." Thena gasped while Jaden looked at his Mom with inquisitive eyes. "My life had been filled with sadness and hate since I could remember. But when I was eighteen, I was ordered to kill a young Jedi Knight by the name of Terek Astrannar, who had been coming close to discovering the cult.

"However, I was captured before I could reach him. I was interrogated for information on the cult, however, they had taught techniques to resist interrogation, which I used to keep myself from breaking. Around three days after I had been captured, Terek started coming before and after the interrogations, just talking and healing me. I eventually started telling him about my past and what I had gone through. He kept on listening and comforting me until he offered me a choice. I could either stay there and keep on being interrogated until another Jedi came along and broke me, or I could leave the cult without giving any of the information, and go stay with him.

"I was amazed at this opportunity, however, because of past experiences, I was wary and asked him why he would do this. He simply replied that he believed I could be saved. He gave me a bit of time to think it over and I eventually accepted his offer. He brought me to a house that he had inherited from his family, this house in fact, and helped me move in. We kept on getting to know each other and growing closer, for over a year. He then asked for my hand in marriage, which I happily accepted. However, the Jedi Council doesn't approve of romantic bonds, so we kept it a secret from all but a coupe of people. We had the small wedding ceremony here. A couple years after your birth, he was sent on another mission to find a Sith cult and he hasn't been found since. The only trace of him they found was his lightsaber, which was sent back here." She was tearing up at the end and turned towards Jaden, smiling slightly. "You are the splitting image of him, you know."

They were all silent for a bit until Jaden sadly said "So he's dead?" Raskta looked at him after wiping her eyes and replied "No… I don't think he is. I think he just has lost his way and needs to find his way back." After a couple more seconds, she cheerfully said "Let's all go to bed, remember we still are going to learn the katas, as well as finish the Makashi and Niman forms tomorrow." She guided them to their room and tucked them in. As she closed the door, she softly said "Good night, children."

* * *

**One Week Later**

They had been training with renewed vigor for the past week on the different forms and meditation. They had nearly finished learning the final moves of the Makashi and Niman forms, practicing for hours on end every day. However, they hadn't been able to unlock the holocron past the full Echani library and some meditation techniques, which annoyed Jaden to no end.

Jaden and Thena were walking around during one of their breaks, talking about their training. "So which one are you going to choose Jaden? The Juyo or the Jar'Kai form?" Jaden thought about it for a split second and said "The Juyo, you?" "The Jar'Kai I think. I enjoy using the single blade well enough, however, the freedom of the dual blades is good for me. Also, you can block more blows with two compared to one."

"True. The Juyo, however, is a staff fighting style, which is my favorite type of weapon other then the single blade. I wonder how it looks though. The only staff form I've seen is the Echani style." They walked for a little bit in town. As they passed a pair of men, they overheard "…as if the mercs heard of a holocron in a house down the way. They're going to get it and sell it for a lot of credits to the highest bidder." They both looked at each other with wide eyes and thought _'Mom!'_

* * *

They ran as fast as they could towards their house. What they saw when they got there shocked them both. Three mercenaries were outside, two guarding their landspeeder and the last one was putting their knocked-out Mom in the back of it. They both ran up to the men and tried to stop them, however, the mercenaries simply smirked and beat them to the ground. 

Jaden was thinking of how to get to his weapons and save his Mom when he felt an evil power wash over him, seeming to call out. _'Save them. Save your Mother and your Sister… All you have to do is accept the power…'_ He knew that this was a vile power and was about to deny it when he heard from the guard holding Thena "Boss says we can have our way with the women after we find this holocron." An intense wave of fury overcame Jaden as thought _'I accept'_ and remembered no more.

* * *

Jaden woke up feeling intense pain all over his body. _'What happened…?'_ He slowly opened his eyes and saw that he was in a bacta tank with a man he didn't know looking at him. Jaden looked into a pair of brown eyes before he was dragged into a dreamless sleep.

* * *

Jaden woke up again, this time in a bed. He looked around and saw some robes on a chair next to him. He quickly put them on and went out the door. He looked around and noticed that he was in the City Hall, which made sense because that was the only place in the city that had a bacta tank for emergencies. 

He overheard a couple of voices coming from a door to his left and he opened it to see six people in it. Two were his Mom and Sister (he noticed his sister look at him with a frightened expression for a second, which quickly changed to relief), one was the governor, two were his neighbors, and the last one was the man Jaden had noticed outside his tank.

Jaden was immediately tackled to the ground by his sister. "I'm so glad you're OK!" Jaden only said "Ow…" which got her off of him quickly. "Now then, what happened?" Everyone looked surprised for a second as Raskta asked the obvious question. "You don't remember?" Jaden shook his head. "All I remember is saying 'I accept' to something, then a feeling of darkness, I think I saw some images, then you." He said as he pointed at the only man he didn't know. Now that he looked at him, he noticed a few things about him. He was bald and had brown Jedi robes on with a lightsaber attached to his belt. His eyes also seemed to hold a lot of wisdom and he projected an authoritative aura.

"After you were knocked down, a dark feeling came down on everyone nearby. You stood up and your eyes were different. They had a deep yellow tint to them and they seemed to hold a darkness…

* * *

**Flashback**

The mercenary that had hit him before said "Stay down kid" and tried hitting him again when he suddenly stopped. Jaden looked straight at him as he was pushed back into the landspeeder with a heavy thud.

Jaden picked a vibrosword off the ground that the mercenary had been holding as the mercenary that had put his Mom in the back of the speeder ran at him with his own vibrosword. Jaden blocked all the hits with grace as he spun and decapitated him.

The third mercenary that was holding Thena pulled out a blaster pistol as Jaden looked straight at him with eyes of fury. Jaden put his open hand out at the man as the blaster was thrown from his grip. He then raised his hand into the air as the man started rising. As Jaden closed his hand slowly, sickening cracks and screams came from the man until his fist closed entirely, causing one last snap, and Jaden to throw the man off to the side.

The mercenary leader came out from the house at the sound of screaming and stood frozen. Jaden slowly turned towards him and raised his hand. The man could only stand still as the hand shot out lightning, burning him to death from the heat. When Jaden noticed that there were no more mercenaries, he started falling towards the ground as Thena ran towards him.

* * *

**End of Flashback**

Jaden's blood ran cold through the recounting of it. The sick thing, though, was that he knew that it was true in his gut and mind. Thena finished with "You've been out for two days, Jaden."

The bald Jedi finally said "I need to speak with Master Yoda on this" and went to a separate room. Jaden was thinking when he quietly asked Thena "Did you tell him about the holocron?" She looked at him with a confused expression and said "No, he only got here a couple hours ago. Why?" Jaden was quiet for a second when he finally said "Don't tell him about it yet. I haven't unlocked it yet and I want to find out more about what happened." Thena sighed and nodded her head. He relayed the message to his Mom and she accepted as well.

A few minutes later, the Jedi came back and said "Master Yoda wants to speak with you three. We will be going to the Jedi temple on Coruscant to talk about these recent occurrences." Jaden looked at his Mother and his Sister, then back to the Jedi. "Um… Ok, but what's your name? I don't want to keep on thinking of you as Mr. Jedi." Thena cracked a smile at this as the Jedi replied "Mace Windu, now go get ready. We are leaving in a couple of hours."

* * *

Jaden looked out the window at the passing scenery. _'Well, I did say that I wanted to go to other planets…'_ he thought humorously. His mind wandered to his fight with the mercenaries. _'Slaughter is more like it…'_ He remembered what he had done vaguely and it saddened him greatly. 

Mace Windu came over and sat in the seat apart from Jaden as he was pondering what had happened. "Why… Why did I do that… How could I do that?!" Jaden turned to Mace and asked. The Jedi Master simply said "You did it because your family was at risk." Jaden looked him in the eyes and coldly replied "I enjoyed it… I enjoyed fighting those mercenaries… I enjoyed killing them… I enjoyed causing them _pain_… That's what scares me."

Mace looked at Jaden and calmly said "Let me tell you something. Everyone has weaknesses that they need to overcome, including Jedi. However, they are still Jedi because they resist the tempting from the Dark Side and make their biggest weakness one of their greatest strengths." Jaden looked at him, astounded. A small smile graced his features as he said "Thank you, Master" and bowed his head. He then got up, going to his quarters and leaving Mace to his thoughts. _'These two are interesting. I can't see into their minds or their emotions and it seems as if they do it unconsciously.'_ He then got up and went to his own quarters to meditate.

* * *

Two republic soldiers were in the command tower when the previously dead comlink buzzed to life with "This is Jedi Master Mace Windu, requesting landing clearance." One of the republic soldiers slid over to the comlink and replied "Roger that, transmit your authorization codes now." A second later, the screen flashed with confirmation. "Come on in, Master Jedi. And welcome home."

* * *

The small transport flew in and began landing procedures on the Jedi Temples landing pad. As it descended, a small band of Jedi walked over to the ship being led by a small green Jedi. A second after the ship landed, the boarding ramp landed and out came Master Windu, followed by Jaden, Thena, and Raskta. 

Mace immediately bowed to the small Jedi and said "Master Yoda, this is the family you requested to see." Yoda let out a small laugh. "Glad I am that you arrived safely. Come, much to discuss we have." He then turned around and started walking back towards the Temple, followed by the Astrannar family and the rest of the Jedi. Thena looked around as they followed him to the council room. She consistently turned her head as they passed the various sections of the temple. _'Amazing! The architecture of this place is astounding. The lightsaber duels are so graceful, yet powerful. The amount of data they have in the archives seems enormous. I remember hearing that they had data on nearly anything in the galaxy!'_ And her thoughts went on and on.

Jaden looked around with a smile, looking at the various people that were Jedi and reading them. _'They all seem to be at peace… Like how I am in the forest.'_ When they were nearly to the council room, a girl ran by quickly and nearly knocked into Jaden, who narrowly stepped back just in time. All he saw was a flash of white hair and piercing blue eyes. She yelled a sorry behind her as she kept on running, seemingly late for something. His eyes followed her as he walked until they turned into the lift that would take them to the Jedi council room. One of the Jedi activated the lift and in a few seconds, they were at the top of the Temple. They then proceeded to walk into the council room.

Jaden took a look around and was astounded. In all but two chairs, which Mace and Yoda promptly sat in, were various Jedi masters, ranging many species from all over the galaxy. The majority of them were there in person, however, a couple were there via holographic projectors, evidently on some mission or for some other reason.

"The Jedi council is now in session. We are here because of a recent occurrence involving the Dark Side of the force." Mace Windu promptly said. "Will you please recount the events that happened two days ago." Thena took a deep breath and said all that had happened, omitting the part about the holocron.

The council was deep in thought about what had happened. "Interesting this is." Yoda finally said. "Natural affinity to the Dark Side of the force in both of these children I sense, even though innocent they be…" This shocked the siblings greatly. _'Thena as well…?'_ One of the council members finally asked the question on everyone's minds. "What are we going to do with them?" Ki-Adi-Mundi asked. "Let them be we cannot do. Fall to the Dark Side, they would." Mace finally spoke up "If we train them, they may still fall." Yoda sighed. "Take this risk we must." Mace looked at the twins closely and noticed something familiar. "Do either of you have any combat training?"

Jaden and Thena looked at each other and then glanced at their Mom, who nodded slightly. Jaden replied "We have been trained in various arts of combat, ranging from swordsmanship, to staves, to martial arts." "Who taught you?" Windu asked. Raskta spoke up with "I did."

Mace looked closely at her. "What forms have they learned?" She looked him straight in the eye and said "Shii-Cho, Makashi, and Niman, along with the advanced Echani and Teras Kasi forms." The Jedi Council looked shocked (except Yoda, who just perked up his ears).

"Those are lightsaber forms…" Ki-Adi-Mundi said. "Rare to find someone other then a Jedi that knows those forms." Mace said "How long have you taught them?" Raskta let a small smile through and replied "They have been learning various things since they were four. However, their weapon training started six years ago. They mastered the basics for the sword, dual blades, and the staff after two years hard training and have been learning the actual forms at an extraordinary pace. The majority of the times I simply show them the move once and leave them to their own devices."

"Interesting this is. If they know this, join the other apprentices they can." Yoda promptly said. Mace looked at the council and announced "It's settled then. Jaden and Thena will become Padawans under the guidance of separate Jedi Masters should they pass the test. Council adjourned."

* * *

Jaden was shocked. He was going to be a Jedi and help people in trouble. He stopped listening and just kept following his family. He finally was dashed out of his silence when he remembered the final words at the meeting and asked a question. "What is the test, Master?" Mace glanced back and replied "Both of you will be given a physical first to see what shape you are in, during which we will get an exact on your midichlorian count. Then we will test your ability with the force so we can gauge your level of interaction with it currently. The Final tests will be on your weapon and martial arts skills." 

"Oh… What are midichlorians?" Jaden asked. "Midichlorians are microscopic living organisms that live inside people's cells and form a person's link with the force. The higher your count, the easier it is to hear and communicate with the force."

"When are we taking the tests?" Mace replied "Tomorrow. Tonight you will sleep in the guest rooms with your family." Jaden looked out the windows and was surprised to see that the sun had nearly finished setting behind the tall buildings of Coruscant.

They finally reached their quarters and Mace Windu showed them where everything was. "We will begin your tests tomorrow at ten." Thena and Jaden went in front of him and both bowed low. "Thank you Master. May the force be with you." Thena said. Mace Windu smiled and replied "May the force be with you. Sleep well." Jaden then thought of something. "Master, are we able to walk around the temple before ten tomorrow?" Mace turned towards Jaden and replied "If you are back before ten, then yes." He then walked out and closed the door.

Jaden, Thena, and their Mom all sat in the living room, thinking about recent events. Jaden then pulled out the holocron from his side pack and placed it on the table. He reached out and touched the book icon. Once again, nothing happened. "Dang it… How can we access his record…" They all kept on looking at the cube until Thena said "Maybe we need to concentrate on opening it when we touch it. After all, you wouldn't want anyone to be able to access your holocron now would you?" Jaden said "It's worth a try." He reached out his hand with Thena and touched the book, this time willing it to unlock. That was the last thing he thought before a sudden torrent of memories filled his mind and he was knocked unconscious.

* * *

**3951 B.B.Y**

Michael Starr sat lotus-style, wondering how he got into these situations. He had been going along the outer rim since his exile from the Jedi order. He had boarded the _Harbinger_, which was on its way to Telos, when they had heard the distress call of a ship identified as the _Ebon Hawk_, which reported that it was being attacked by a Sith warship. When they got there, the Sith warship only had a seemingly dead Sith on board and the _Ebon Hawk_ had only a couple of droids on it.

After a long series of events, consisting of the _Harbinger_ being captured by the Sith, Michael being saved, and being brought aboard the _Ebon Hawk_, T3-M4, an astromech droid that had been on board the _Ebon Hawk_ when it was found, repaired the engines enough for them to work and piloted it to the nearby Peragus fuel mining facility, which mined from various blown off portions of Peragus II, previously a fuel rich planet that had a blaster shot at the wrong time.

The miners found Michael, who was still unconscious, Kreia, who seemed dead, and T3-M4.

(A/N You know what, just imagine the game up to where they get the shuttle to go to the plateau. If anyone doesn't know the game up to that point, then here's a list of Michael's companions:

Bao-Dur: An Iridonian, aka, Darth Maul's species. A high class engineer. Served under Michael during the battle of Malachor. Has a cyborg arm with energy connecting the hand and the elbow.

Atton: A human smuggler and pilot. Hot-headed a lot of times. Not much is presently known about his past.

Kreia: An old woman that seems to know the Sith hunting you personally. Got her hand cut off from the Sith Lord, Sion. Uses the force primarily to fight.

T3-M4: One of the droids on the _Ebon Hawk_ when it was found. An astromech model, like R2-D2 was. Seems to have been through a lot, judging from its roughed up chassis. Was top of the line around three years prior. Still is one of the best out there.\

Michael: An exiled Jedi Knight. Joined Revan in the war with the Mandalorians and quickly became one of his top Generals. After Malachor, was the only Jedi to come back and answer for what he did. He was exiled and left before Revan came back as the Lord of the Sith.

_Ebon Hawk_: A mysterious ship that seems to hold an extremely high importance to the Republic. When found, only had a highly damaged HK unit onboard, along with T3.)

After they had destroyed the massive droid that had tried to burn them to a crisp, they made their way to the plateau where they thought the _Ebon Hawk_ had been taken. Now, they had been shot by a missile from the plateau and were about to crash. Yup, Michael certainly was mischief's play-thing.

Michael shook his head and looked around. They had made an unpleasant landing on top of the plateau and had managed to get out of the decimated shuttle. Bao-Dur was unconscious and Atton and Kreia were slowly getting up as well. He then saw three HK-50 droids standing a good twenty feet in front of them near the edge of the plateau, evidently the ones who had shot them down.

"Irritated Declaration: There you are, Jedi. You have put us on quite a chase." The first one said. Michael stared at them for a second. "Why the hell did you try to kill us?!" The second HK unit replied "Quick Clarification: We didn't intend to kill you Jedi, we merely wished to facilitate communications and put an end to hostilities."

"Statement: Now Jedi, come with us peacefully so that we may fulfill our programming and put an end to this bounty.

"Eager Threat: Or you could try to fight. We would enjoy killing your companions and putting you in torture restraints." The first one said. "Let's see you buckets of bolts try it!" Atton said confidently. Michael used the force to propel his body more quickly towards the HK-50s and pulled out two upgraded vibroblades. Atton pulled out his disintegrator carbine and opened fire while Kreia raised her hand towards the first one and shot a couple of bolts of lightning towards it.

Atton shot the third droid and managed to pull off a clean hit and destroy it before it shot its own weapon. The remaining droids opened fire, the first one aiming at Michael and the other one shooting at Kreia. The first HK fired point blank at Michael and managed to only graze his side with a shot as Michael just barely used his acquired speed and reflexes to dodge the majority of the shots. He then crouched under the droid and cut off the end of its gun with one blade and stabbed the other one in the head through a weak spot where its neck would be, instantly destroying the HK unit.

Kreia quickly stepped out of the way of the shots then sent a wave of force energy through the air, pushing the last droid off balance just as Atton pulled off another couple of shots, which went straight through its chassis and power core, causing it to fall off the edge and explode a couple seconds later.

Michael looked around smiled a bit, then stumbled and fell on his face. Kreia ran towards him and shook her head. She then sent some healing force energy into him and bandaged his head. He shakily got up and looked at Kreia. "Thanks" She looked at him and simply said "We need to find shelter quickly if we are to survive." Michael nodded his head and went over the droids, scavenging any parts he could. He then asked Atton to look around for any sign of shelter, to which Atton grudgingly nodded and started walked through the thin layer of snow. Michael looked around and noticed Bao-Dur knocked out next to the crashed shuttle. Michael went over to him and used the force to sense how he was. Thankfully it seemed as if he was simply unconscious, no concussion or broken bones. He would come around in a few minutes hopefully.

Michael walked behind the shuttle and scanned his eyes over the land, looking for any sign of change. Something a couple hundred yards out caught his attention. There seemed to be a hill coming up from the otherwise flat plateau. The only way he saw it was some of the snow around it seemed to have melted and showed the ground underneath, providing a sharp contrast against rest of the white ground. He quickly activated his comm and radioed to Atton. _"Come over to the shuttle, I think I found something."_ A minute later, all of them were walking towards the jutting piece of land.

When they managed to get to it, Michael gasped. There was a turbolift door on the other side of the hill and it seemed to be active. Not having much choice due to the snow, they activated the lift and went down. A second later, the door opened into a rather large room that seemed to be a crossroads. They took a couple of steps out of the lift when it suddenly closed behind them. The three of them quickly turned back to the lift. _"Shoot… Someone knows we're here."_ Michael thought.

He then felt some people behind him and turned back around slowly. What he saw surprised him greatly. There were six women all holding staffs. Five of them looked exactly the same, right down to their pure white handmaiden robes and facial structure. The sixth, however, looked different. She had her hood down which revealed short white hair and a different face then the others, which Michael quickly noticed was beautiful and slightly familiar. Her robe was similar to the others in basic design, however, it had a thick blue stripe down the middle of it that went down to the hem of the skirt. She had white pants like the others, however, both her belt and her boots were black compared to the white of the rest. (A/N I will upload a picture showing what the two robes look like.)

Michael was knocked out of what this meant when the sixth woman said "Lay down your weapons and you will not be harmed." He weighed his options quickly and, even though he and his comrades could probably knock all of them out and get their ship, he decided to find out what all of this was and understand who or what the other presences he felt were. "Very well, we mean you no harm." He handed his two vibroblades to the last handmaiden as Atton handed over his disruptor and Kreia handed over her own vibrosword.

The three that had been handed the weapons walked to the center of the room as one of the remaining handmaidens said to Michael "Our mistress wishes to speak with you." He nodded his head and followed the handmaiden. Atton made to follow, however, the two remaining handmaidens said "Please follow us." Atton followed and had a bad feeling that usually attributed to some sort of a cage. _"Please don't make this the third time. I've already been in two other cages because of the Jedi in the past two days."_ Alas, it wasn't to be as both of them were led into force cages. Bao-Dur was knocked out and in the third one. _"Oh come on…"_

* * *

Michael followed the handmaiden into a circular room with an all-to-familiar looking obelisk in the middle. _'So this is one of the hidden Jedi academies. Wonder which of the Jedi Masters fled here. It's either Vash or… Atris.'_ He thought with a pang of sadness and betrayal. He was led past the council chambers obelisk and left in-front of an entryway. Looking through it as the handmaiden went back to the entry chamber, he saw a catwalk leading to a meditation chamber. Its doors, however, seemed to also be designed for a stronghold. Evidently the meditation chamber was also a bunker in case the academy was overrun. 

The doors opened and Michael's blood ran cold. From the meditation chamber, a white-haired woman walked out. She had white robes on and held herself with power. Her ice-blue eyes met Michaels gray.

"It's been a long time Michael." The Jedi Master said, letting only a hint of emotion into her voice. "Yes it has, Atris."

* * *

**32 B.B.Y**

**Jedi Temple, Coruscant**

Jaden shook his head groggily and immediately regretted it as waves of pain washed over him and made him feel like his head was being split open. _'What happened…?'_ He opened his eyes and instantly remembered where he was and what they had managed to do._ 'YES! We managed to unlock it!'_ He slowly sat up and a wet rag fell off his forehead. He put it on a nearby desk and looked around, finding himself in his own bed. He looked over to Thena and noticed her still sleeping. He reached over and grabbed the datapad next to his bed then checked the time. _'7 huh? We have three hours to get ready.'_ He then proceeded to get up and was painfully reminded of his headache. _'First get some medical supplies _then_ take a shower.'_

He got some spare clothes that the Jedi had provided and pulled out his personal medkit from his trunk. He then took out some aspirin (A/N They have aspirin. I don't care if it's the Star Wars Universe, they have it) and popped it down his throat. He then put the kit away and went to take a shower.

After putting on the clothes, which consisted of a tunic, a pair of pants, and some other miscellaneous items (e.g. socks, underwear, etc…), he proceeded to send a small message to his Moms datapad, explaining that he was going to walk around the temple and that he would be back by ten. After making sure he had his own datapad and that its alarm was set to 9:30, he proceeded to leave their quarters and look around for a calm spot to think and finally sort out what he saw in the holocron.

He went to a nearby terminal and looked at where he was exactly inside the temple. He saw that he was near the central area, which contained the majority of the facilities used, like training rooms, meditation areas, the archives, the dining hall, and, of course, the Jedi Council's chamber. Jaden looked for a port into the terminal so he could download the map directly to his datapad. However, when he tried to do it, he was met with an ACCESS DENIED screen, which quickly changed into a username and password screen. Thinking for a second, he disconnected his datapad then reconnected it and sliced into the system. Thinking of what to make his username, he dug into the history he had learned up to that point. With a stroke of mischief, he added the username Revan Starr and the password Michael to the list of Jedi Knights.

He reconnected again and entered the sliced in username and password. Suddenly, the map changed. It now had menus to each of the areas, other then the Council chambers, as well as small colored dots on each of them, colored red (which the majority was) or green. They seemed to show which areas were in use. Jaden downloaded the map to his datapad and noticed that the dots were also on it. The only reason he could think of for this was that the data was constantly being transmitted inside the temple to the datapads authorized for it. _'Useful, though I don't think the Jedi would like it if a 14 year old kid hacked into their system.'_ Jaden smiled then signed out of the terminal.

He then looked at the map and noticed that a nearby dueling room was in use. He opened the menu for it and checked who was there. The holographic projector on the end of the datapad activated and showed a full body analysis and record of the person. A voice then said

"Name: Rei Winters.

Age: Fourteen

Hair Color: White

Eye Color: Blue

Species: Human

Sub-Species: Echani.

Gender: Female.

Rank: Jedi Padawan.

Master: Miri Tavik.

Record: Has been a Padawan for four years. First combat mission was at the age of twelve. Bounty Hunters tracking down Master Miri Tavik ambushed them while they were on Manaan for a diplomatic mission. Both managed to capture or kill the various bounty hunters. Master Miri Tavik expressed her slight amazement that her student could hold off her assailants effectively. Has consistently impressed the various masters that have seen her. Many, however, have commented that she is too emotional. She has been reprimanded many times for having her judgment clouded with her emotions during various missions."

The audio then cut off. It then proceeded to show various pieces of data about her, ranging from her medical records to which missions she had been on. Jaden turned off the display then went towards the dueling room she was in.

When he reached it, he noticed that the girl was practicing unarmed combat. She was dressed in near skin-tight training clothes that went over her entire body. After watching for a minute, he noticed that she was going through some very familiar stances and moves. It then hit him. They were the Echani forms. She wasn't as advanced as he was, however, it was close.

She then started performing one of the higher level katas. She dropped to the floor and kicked where an opponent's head would be then swung around and swept where the imaginary opponents legs would be and increased her speed then hit him where his back would be, resulting in what would be a finisher to any lightly armored sentient. He smiled and started lightly clapping.

Rei had been training in the forms from her heritage since even before she was found force sensitive and taken to the Jedi Temple. She had continuously practiced the forms she could remember then looked for more, which were quickly provided from the Jedi Archives. However, the Jedi Masters had said that she had to stop learning a while ago, since she seemed "To encourage her bonds with her family", which annoyed her to no end. _'I understand why the Jedi Masters feel the way they do, since all Jedi are supposed to suppress their emotions, however, it just doesn't feel _right_…'_ She finished the kata she was on. _'Alright. I'll try the next level kata again.'_ After going through it, she grinned to herself. She then heard a soft clapping come from behind her.

She twisted around with a look of surprise on her face. None of the other padawans were supposed to start training for a few hours. Had the Jedi Masters found out what she was doing? The person behind her wasn't one of the council members, however, who she saw shocked her even more. It was the boy she had nearly ran into when she was late for a small party the other padawans were hosting. _'The one that was being escorted by the Jedi Masters…'_ She thought, too shocked to even move. The boy, however, had no such problems and said "Very nicely done. How long have you been learning the Echani forms?"

She nervously replied "Since I-I was four, Master." He looked at her, confused, "Why did you call me a Master?" "Because you were being escorted by the other Masters and that only happens when either a large mission is being requested or when a new Master is being welcomed into the order, and since you are a Jedi, it seems that you came from one of the Enclaves to officially become a Master."

"Why do you think I'm a Jedi, Rei?" She looked at him, clearly confused. "Two reasons. One is that I can feel the force strongly within you. The other is that you have access to the Jedi archives, since that is the only way short of reading my mind for an extended period of time that you could find out my name."

Jaden nervously rubbed the back of his head and said "Um… I'm not a Jedi yet. Later today I might be one, but not yet. I was brought here because of… certain factors." "Then how did you know my name…" He let out a nervous laugh. "Lucky guess?" She narrowed her eyes dangerously. Recognizing this look, as he had gotten it quite a few times from his sister and her friends, he quickly mellowed out. "I might have…" he whispered the last part so she couldn't hear it.

She walked right into his face, eyes still narrowed dangerously. "Might have what exactly…" Jaden quickly turned a healthy shade of red from their close proximity and nervously asked "Promise you won't tell?" She opened her eyes fully. She had thought that he might have been stalking her, it had happened once before, however, it sounded as if he did something that the Jedi wouldn't exactly be pleased to hear. Thinking of the implications, she giddily replied "Ok, now tell me what you did." He looked frightened from her sudden mood change and said "I might have… sort of hacked into the Jedi Temple's Mainframe…"

Silence flooded the area. Rei's face still had the giddy look, however, she looked vacant. She suddenly started falling back towards the dueling room mat. Jaden panicked and reached out to pull her up, however, at that exact moment, she realized she was falling and reached out for any support, which made her latch onto the off-balance Jaden and had both of them fall to the ground.

When Jaden recovered from the momentary shock of falling unexpectedly, he felt that his arm was on something soft and was latched onto it. When he opened his eyes, he saw Rei's face not a foot away, her eyes also open. Both of them just stared at each other for a second, digesting the information, before they both crawled to opposite sides of the room and blushed heavily.

They were quiet fore a bit until Jaden asked "Um… Why did you fall?" Rei nervously replied "Because a lot of other people have tried to do what you did and failed… And because I've been trying to access the final Echani forms in the historical Archives." Rei whispered the last part however, Jaden heard it then chuckled for a little bit and looked at Rei then said "Maybe I can help you then."

She turned her head and looked at Jaden. "Can't. The part of the historical archives I need can only be unlocked by the Jedi Librarian, a Jedi Historian, or one of the Masters. And the Master access can only be accepted by Master Yoda."

"Then why can't we ask them for access?" It was Rei's turn to be a little nervous. "Because they said I couldn't practice the Echani arts. It is supposedly wrong to 'encourage bonds with your family' because of the emotional implications, and since I'm Echani and link the forms with the few memories I have before the Jedi, I can't practice them. So unless you know someone who can do the Master forms of Echani combat, I need to be okay with only the advanced levels." She finished disappointedly. However, she became confused when Jaden smiled.

"Well then it's a good thing I have access to all of the ancient Echani forms." Rei's face changed to one of shock. "H-How…?" Jaden humorously replied "I'll show you when I get back from the tests." Just then, the alarm on his datapad went off. He brought it out and pressed a couple of buttons on it. "Our quarters are currently nearby here." Rei piped up with "Doesn't matter. As soon as you're assigned a master, you move in with her, or him. And I'm going on a mission today so I can't find out who your new master is from you." Jaden shrugged. "Ok then, find out from your master when you get back. My name is Jaden Astranaar by the way. Bye Rei." He waved as he left. A second later, he heard a yelled "Bye Jaden!" He simply chuckled and went back to his quarters.

* * *

**A/N There we go. This is what I've been working on for the past month or so. Next chapter should come out sooner then that, though it will probably be under 10k words. XD**

**Also, I need a nwe name for the story. True Strength is overused. Submit ideas and I'll choose one of them (Unless True Strength is better).  
**

**My Naruto story is getting on my nerves. I wrote out quite a bit and it's extremely annoying to keep on checking back and forth. However, I will be getting the story up to 10k words next chapter at least.**

**Remember to click the small blue button!**

**Till next time.**

\-§-/

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